Loathsome Cars

[Edstock]

Vette is a FANTASTIC car but has lost its identity over the years....

It may be pushrods, but it weighs less than a Porsche 811. Amazing bang for the buck. The compact lay-out of the pushrod engine allows a low cowl height with a front-engine lay-out that is cheaper to build than a mid or rear-engine chassis, but with desired weight distribution and the appropriate suspension . . . . maybe a Gallardo is faster, but, who cares?

 

But, so is the Mustang. The SRA works alright. The caster-camber adjust plates make the Mac struts work, and the arrival of a turbo V-6 and a 6-speed will be very nice. Say, 32K, with a $5K lightweight option?

[Deanh]

What identity has it lost exactly? It always has been a sports car and continues to be the best sports car in the U.S.A.

it is without doubt the best American built sports car....just, at least to em lacks personality...it may be generic styling cues they seem distressed to abandon ala Porsche 911...ANOTHER characterless styling enigma.....almost as if they are nervous to change the basic styling.......

[P71_CrownVic]

it is without doubt the best American built sports car....just, at least to em lacks personality...it may be generic styling cues they seem distressed to abandon ala Porsche 911...ANOTHER characterless styling enigma.....almost as if they are nervous to change the basic styling.......

 

Look around at your showroom...that is characterless styling. The Vette is an evolving design. GM designers didn't just get lazy and rehash a design that got old 35 years ago. They just kept evolving the design. The Corvette will NEVER be confused with anything else. Unless you are blind, you can correctly identify a Corvette from a long distance away.

[Ford Jellymoulds]

Look around at your showroom...that is characterless styling. The Vette is an evolving design. GM designers didn't just get lazy and rehash a design that got old 35 years ago. They just kept evolving the design. The Corvette will NEVER be confused with anything else. Unless you are blind, you can correctly identify a Corvette from a long distance away.

 

Nearest we get to an exciting RWD 60's Corvette Stingray, Mustang or Dodge Viper coupe today from Ford of Europe is a RWD Transit Van, so maybe Ford of Europe cars should make it onto this list for being soooooooooo bloody boring.

[156n3rd]

Look around at your showroom...that is characterless styling. The Vette is an evolving design. GM designers didn't just get lazy and rehash a design that got old 35 years ago. They just kept evolving the design. The Corvette will NEVER be confused with anything else. Unless you are blind, you can correctly identify a Corvette from a long distance away.

Good thing there aren't any other cars that look like that lump of goo. They fouled up by not recalling what the original concept was, a small roadster, not a V-8 pig. Seems like you just have to admire it because you can, not because it's really any good. We are entitled to our opinons.

[ANTAUS]

Ya know, I think I'm gonna add the Honda Fit, to this list of loathsome cars... I keep reading reviews of the current one. Of how great, what an improvement, etc.etc. Supposedly the Fit is the entry vehicle, under the Civic, yet from the pricing I'm seeing on them, I really dont see how it can slot under the Civic. It's slower than the Civic, costs as much as the Civic, gets worse full economy than the Civic, hmmm just dont see the purpose for that car even to exist. And it's not like the Civic has grown in space, price or power, to command a higher slot in that brand?

[Edstock]

They fouled up by not recalling what the original concept was, a small roadster, not a V-8 pig.

Except the V-8 pig is alloy-block, hydro-formed chassis, and weighs less than a 911.

 

Check the weight on MB 2-seaters. Some real V-8 pigs, there.

 

You want something like the 6-cylinder original? Turbo-Solstice. The car is a reprise of a lot of the 1st-gen Vette, IMHO, with IRS, a great transmission, and without the iron engine.

[syrtran]

They use a stock suspension in race cars?

Depends on the class. The suspensions in GT1 cars have to endure 700+ HP and constant acceleration/braking for about 2 hours normally and up to 24 hours at Daytona. Your stock stamped control arms aren't going to cut it. Touring Car suspensions, OTOH, are pretty darn close to what came from the factory.

 

What kind of suspension does a F1 car have? What kind of suspension does a Indy car have? Imagine how well they could do with a SRA!

That's a silly comparison. Indy and F1 cars are all mid-engined with a rear-facing transaxle. The transaxle (and engine block) is also the rear 'frame'. Be kinda tough to put an SRA through that thing.

 

To whoever else: Please stop comparing SRA-equipped race cars to street cars. Most dedicated race tracks are smoother than a freshly-paved Walmart parking lot (or Tesco, for Jelly ). IRS is for bumpy surfaces, like, say, the streets the rest of the world drives on.

[P71_CrownVic]

That's a silly comparison. Indy and F1 cars are all mid-engined with a rear-facing transaxle. The transaxle (and engine block) is also the rear 'frame'. Be kinda tough to put an SRA through that thing.

 

I realize...I was being facetious.

 

To whoever else: Please stop comparing SRA-equipped race cars to street cars. Most dedicated race tracks are smoother than a freshly-paved Walmart parking lot (or Tesco, for Jelly ). IRS is for bumpy surfaces, like, say, the streets the rest of the world drives on.

 

THANK YOU...very well said.